How to preview a Google result
- Type or paste the page title, its URL and the meta description. An example is filled in to start.
- Add a date if the page shows one, such as a blog post; Google puts it before the snippet.
- Read the pixel bars: a red bar means that text is wider than Google usually shows.
- Check the desktop and mobile previews, and move the important words forward if they're being cut.
The widths this preview uses
| Text | Font | Cut at about | Typical sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop title | Arial 20 px | 600 px | About 60 characters |
| Mobile title | Arial 18 px | 550 px, over two lines | About 60 characters |
| Desktop description | Arial 14 px | 920 px, about two lines | About 150 characters |
| Mobile description | Arial 14 px | 680 px | About 110 characters |
Google doesn't publish these numbers. They're the approximations SEO tools commonly use, and Google changes its layout from time to time, so treat a result close to the limit as at risk. Text is measured with Arial's character widths, which is why “WWW” uses far more of the line than “iii”.
Why Google might show something else
Google builds the title link from the page's <title> most of the time, but it can also use the main heading, og:title, link text from other sites and more. Titles that are missing, vague, repeated across pages or stuffed with keywords are the ones most often replaced. Snippets are usually taken from the page text that best matches each search; the meta description is used when it describes the page better.
- Lead with what the page is; put the brand at the end.
- Write a different title and description for every page.
- Keep the description a true summary, so Google has a reason to use it.
Sources
Each link was last checked on .
- Influencing your title links in search results, Google Search Central: titles are truncated to fit the device width, and Google may build title links from other text on the page.
- Control your snippets in search results, Google Search Central: there's no length limit on meta descriptions, snippets are truncated to fit, and they're usually generated from the page.
Common uses
- Writing a title that won't be cut. Type a title and watch the pixel bar; when it shows the cut-off, move the important words forward or trim until the desktop and mobile previews show it whole.
- Checking a description before publishing. Paste the meta description to see roughly where it ends with an ellipsis on desktop and mobile, so the call to action isn't the part that gets dropped.
- Showing a client or editor. Fill in the title, URL and description from a draft to show how the result could look in Google, rather than describing it in a document.